Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia is an amazing natural wonder that's off the beaten track.
I stayed at the Hotel Bellevue which was a great price at only 54 Euro and the cheapest room in the park. A decent continental breakfast is included. This is a no frills, bare minimum room to leave your bag, take a shower, and rest your head for the night. Don't expect anything more. If you're ok with that, the price is a steal. The walls are thin so you can hear everything going on around you but it's quiet at night when it matters.
I'd recommend getting here early afternoon, hiking as much as you can, finishing up what you missed in the morning, and leaving in the afternoon. 1 night here is sufficient. The best hikes here take about 4-5 hours total at a leisurely pace.
Mid-April was off season so almost all the restaurants were closed except for the one in Jezero next door. There was no one there and it was almost like an erie scene from "The Shining" - big empty hotel and literally no one in sight. We sat down at a table in the cavernous ballroom and were both startled when a waitress snuck up on us out of nowhere. The food is overpriced and sub par but there's nothing around so there's not much choice.
If you're taking the bus out of here, ask for the schedule to Split from the front desk. There's a tiny bus stop on the main road to the right of the hotel. Make sure to flag down the bus at around the time that they gave you. There's a lot of buses that go by so just keep waving until the right one pulls up. It was actually right on time within about 5 minutes surprisingly.
I'd recommend getting here early afternoon, hiking as much as you can, finishing up what you missed in the morning, and leaving in the afternoon. 1 night here is sufficient. The best hikes here take about 4-5 hours total at a leisurely pace.
Mid-April was off season so almost all the restaurants were closed except for the one in Jezero next door. There was no one there and it was almost like an erie scene from "The Shining" - big empty hotel and literally no one in sight. We sat down at a table in the cavernous ballroom and were both startled when a waitress snuck up on us out of nowhere. The food is overpriced and sub par but there's nothing around so there's not much choice.
If you're taking the bus out of here, ask for the schedule to Split from the front desk. There's a tiny bus stop on the main road to the right of the hotel. Make sure to flag down the bus at around the time that they gave you. There's a lot of buses that go by so just keep waving until the right one pulls up. It was actually right on time within about 5 minutes surprisingly.